Painting Classic Honda Magna Motorcycles

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Taking the next steps...

I used spray cans to paint the 750 tank a nice blue metal flake and was fairly pleased with the results until a big mosquito flew into my last coat of clear. Then I put my big, fat thumbprints into the still soft enamel installing the tank. Then the seat and control lines "stuck" and left some really nasty marring. It looked good enough from a distance, to put it through its paces, but not good enough to take it anywhere without being embarrased.

I had previously purchased the 4 DVD Paint-U-Cation set from Eastwood and watched all four (note that it is now a 6 DVD set as of 2018). I did more research online and found a couple of good resources and forums. Autobodystore.com and AutoBody101.com are the two I lurked on for awhile. I felt I had a good enough handle on what it would take to paint these bikes. I held off going to the local PPG distributor until I had some intelligent questions to ask.

Between the online advice and the PPG guy's knowledge, I came to the conclusion I would need to make some modifications to my air system. I already had the compressor "plumbed" using schedule 40 plastic pipe, straight to my 30' hose reel and an extension that was supposed to supply a retractable, ceiling mounted 50' hose reel, which was still sitting on the garage floor. The 30' reel would start spitting moisture soon after I started using any tools. Not acceptable for painting and really not good for the air tools either.

So I built what is called a wort chiller by some online. Basically, a 25' coil of copper tubing that sits in a 5 gallon bucket such that it can be immersed in water to chill the heated air leaving the compressor. I connected this to a set of motor guard moisture and oil filters/separators. This will force the moisture in the chilled air to condense, hopefully before it reaches the air tool or spray gun. This is all copper until the output of the filters and should alleviate any concerns about heat or oil affecting the plastic pipe.

Next I extended the "pipe to nowhere" to a makeshift spray booth, made of a plastic pipe frame and 4 mil plastic sheeting, and terminated it in the retractable, now ceiling mounted, hose reel. At the end of the hose reel, I have a remote regulator and a "last chance" filter before it connects to my spray gun, just in case any moisture, oil or other contaminants make it that far.

The makeshift spray booth is positively pressurized by a downdraft fan I saved from an old Gen-Aire grill we replaced. I built a plywood box around it that fits standard 12" x 20" air filter elements. I tried a bathroom fan version of a forced air breathing system. My first draft allowed too much air to escape around the impeller case when a small diameter hose is attached. I tried sealing the impeller case but it still didn't work. I decided to use the blower attachment from my shop vac.

The forced fresh air system is primarily a means to avoid breathing the isocyanates generated by the catalyzed urethane clear coat. Colorless, odorless, sneaks up on you in a time delayed fashion. Really nasty stuff. Once you're sensitized, it only takes a small exposure to have a large reaction. That and the "bunny suit" with a hood, gloves and shoes should keep me safe. In case you couldn't tell, I bought the real stuff, PPG epoxy primer, blue metal flake and clear coat, and shelved the rustoleum single stage spray bombs.

Long story short, I stripped the rustoleum spray bomb job back off 750 tank down to bare metal, added bondo, and there it sat, waiting for paint. I also started hand sanding the plastic side covers for both the 750 and 1100 as well as the 1100 rear cowl. I had to take a step backward by removing parts from the 1100 rolling chassis so I could hand sand them.

Talk about work. Layer after layer after layer of thick, soft, clog the sandpaper black enamel covering primer covering another layer of paint over primer over the original factory paint over primer over a skim coat of filler. I finished sanding them and made some two part plastic repairs on the 1100 parts. I reinforced the patches with some fiber tape, like the drywall tape. The one 750 side cover had a crack on the surface, right on top of one of the mounting posts. That got fixed too, so it didn't show up in the paint later.

Courtney still owes me some tank artwork. I bought her a bunch of photographic chemicals so she can do her own enlargement and development at home. The understanding was a "barter", as she calls it, of sketches of airbrush art for the cost of the chemicals. I'll be trying my hand at the airbrush part of it, but she's much better at the art part of it. Something I always wanted to do, but couldn't study commercial art and college prep at the same time.

Ann decided to take the Motorcycle Safety Foundation course to get her motorcycle endorsement. It's the same course I took and I highly recommend it. Granted, you may not be able to sign up for the one here in orlando, but there's probably a motorcycle dealership near you that offers something similar. It's used to get you a discount off your insurance, but not since they repealed the helmet law here in Florida.